Trail of Tears
by melinda08
Summary: Caryl, with others in it. AU, no Terminus. When Daryl finally finds Carol, he sees she's carrying a huge secret with her. Will Daryl understand? Will he be mad at Carol, or at Rick, who caused Daryl to miss out on the most important time of his life? for Jessie33
1. Chapter 1

Trail of Tears

ch 1

by Melinda

_As with most couples, their love started when she first stepped foot out on her own trail of tears. Caryl._

She wasn't sure what she was looking for, only that she was glad she'd found Tyreese. Yes, it seemed strange that they formed a friendship, considering her actions with Karen, but somehow, after the Lizzie incident, he'd decided to forgive her. Maybe her having to kill a child, which Tyreese knew would have been one of the hardest, if not the hardest decisions she'd ever have to make (except, of course, for letting go of Sophia); maybe it was he'd come to see how strong she was, how she was always looking out for everyone. Maybe it was because he'd seen what she'd had to do to keep Judith safe, to keep himself safe, to protect her unborn child. Who knew? All Carol knew was that without the unexpected pregnancy, Carol'd have had no other way to tell time, other than by the kicking of her baby inside of her, and that maybe time healed all wounds.

Yes, Carol and Tyreese were a strange family of sorts. Of course, he wasn't the father. Nothing happened, not romantically anyhow, between them. And Carol had obviously been pregnant when he'd found her (or more accurately, when she'd found him). She never talked about it, but Tyreese knew who the father was.

If she was excited about the child, Carol really didn't say. It would be hard, raising two infants in the world they were inhabiting, but having decided to stay at the little home they'd taken Lizzie and Mika into, and knowing they'd had to bury two children in the front yard, the little home which they would have otherwise fled had now became a home.

He'd go on runs, with Carol taking primary care of cooking and taking care of Judith.

They'd talked about finding the others, finding Rick. Carol was adamant that they return Judith to her daddy and brother. After all, she knew better than most the pain of losing a child.

Tyreese had talked her out of it. Who knew if Rick was even alive? He'd gotten the brunt of the governor's wickedness, and Tyreese knew that despite Rick's mental and physical strength, there was no way he could have survived the beating that he'd taken.

It was only after many sleepless nights and days filled with tears and heartache that Carol had finally relented, that they could not take the chance of losing any more lives.

Still, Carol held out hope that one day they'd find Rick, and that he would know just how far she would go to keep his daughter safe.

Not to mention the safety of Carol's unborn baby, also very much a priority.

Tyreese wanted to talk to her, wanted to know about Daryl. There was no way Daryl knew about the child; Tyreese was certain that he'd have found Carol by then if he had any clue to Carol's pregnancy. Every time he tried to discuss Daryl with Carol, she'd quickly change the subject.

It was almost as if she'd already resigned herself to the fact that she would probably never see the father of her baby again.

Tyreese turned around, made sure that Carol was in the house with Judith, and though he'd told Carol they wouldn't risk their lives trying to find the others, Daryl and Rick had to be found. If Tyreese were to be a father, he'd want to know. Rick and Daryl were good people; they deserved to know about their children.

It was the least he could do for the group that had given him shelter, safety, food- and a chance to prove himself. This was it. This was his chance to prove to Rick once and for all what kind of man he was. If it was the last thing he did, he would reunite the broken group.

tbc


	2. Chapter 2

Trail of Tears

ch 2

by Melinda

_As with most couples, their love started when she first stepped foot out on her own trail of tears. Caryl._

As Tyreese started along his journey, he actually felt something he hadn't felt in a long, long time. He was excited to be alive again. For so long it had been death and walkers and violence- he wasn't immune to the pain, though he often wished he were. Karen. Sasha. Hershel. Sasha, she could take care of herself. He wasn't worried about his sister, much. He hadn't known the elder Greene too long, but he'd known he was a good, honest decent man. From the beginning, when he'd been kept in a different part of the cell, along with Sasha and his friends, Hershel had been the one to talk to them like they were people. Humanity...that was the word Tyreese was looking for. That awful, awful day at the prison with the governor...well, he'd had no idea just how evil another human being could be until he saw the beloved Hershel...no, he'd best not think of that day.

But there was Rick. He'd kind of figured out why Rick had sent Carol away. Mostly it made him mad. As well as he'd come to know Carol over the past...however long it'd been...Tyresse came to believe that Rick had underestimated both himself and Carol. The strength that woman had...once he found Rick, he was quite sure that Rick would never be so quick to dismiss that little lady ever again.

She was something with that baby girl of Rick's. Of course, he'd known about Sophia. He hadn't asked much, and Carol hadn't really wanted to talk about her. But during Hershel's visits to Tyreese off and on, Hershel'd shared that Daryl had come to mean an awful lot to Carol during their search for Sophia. He felt bad for her, not that she wanted anyone to pity her. But to watch your child turn like she'd had to see, to watch her daughter had to (walker or not) be put down, like a rabid dog or worse, well, he didn't know if he could be that strong.

Yes, he wanted to ask her about Sophia. But every time he started to bring it up, something stopped him. Carol would get this look on her face, like she was hurting just thinking about her daughter. Maybe some pains were just too much to think about, he supposed.

The fact that she was having a baby also was a curiosity to Tyreese. Certainly it would bring more emotion, more complications, more threats (nothing to draw them walkers out like the wail of a little baby)...but he'd hoped that Carol would see that the baby would have a chance. Especially with Carol and Daryl for parents. Once Daryl found out, Tyreese was sure that she'd start to feel something, feel different about that little one inside her. He didn't know why- only that some people just seemed to make sense together.

As he thought of Daryl, he'd thought of the other Dixon brother, Merle. That Merle sure had been something. Tyreese kind of figured that racism would go out the door in the apocalypse, but apparently some people weren't able to change. But maybe he had changed, but wouldn't let no one see it. At any rate, Merle had died saving Michonne, and as far as Tyreese was concerned, he'd redeemed himself. Who was he to judge at this point?

Man, it sure would be nice to see that little cross-bow wielding white dude right now. Say what you want about Daryl, but the man could track.

He tried to figure out what he'd learned from Daryl. Make sure you know where you're at all times. Look for little clues, buildings, trees, whatever it took to help you remember where you were. After a while pretty much all the trees began to look the same, but whatever.

There were two little babies that needed their daddies, and Tyreese would die finding them, or at least die trying.

00000

Pretty soon, he had to stop for a rest. This was going to be harder than he thought. Yes, he'd gotten awfully good at stopping the walkers, but there were other threats out there. Humans could be worse than those walkers. The walkers, something wasn't right with their heads; they didn't know better. But a human...for a human (if you could use that term) to do something like the governor had done to Hershel...well, that was a special kind of evil.

Rick had let Tyreese know they were all infected, that they would all turn regardless of how they died. He hadn't wanted to believe it. But after the incident at the prison...Tyresse began to wonder if it got to some folks' brains before they turned. How else to explain so much evil that one person could cause?

At first, he'd thought that the person who killed Karen was just like the governor. But Carol, she wasn't evil. He didn't like it, but he could see her wanting to protect the group however she saw fit.

That Rick sure underestimated Carol, that was for sure. If only he could find Rick.

Part of him was getting tired, real tired, and just would have turned around if this mission were only for him. As strong as Carol was, it wasn't really her job to raise another person's baby. She wasn't sleeping, she'd been sick for a while (morning sickness sure was a misnomer)...Carol needed, she deserved some time to take care of herself for a while.

So as he got up, he started watching the path for clues, any clues, that would lead him back to his former group.

tbc


End file.
